Thursday, November 17, 2016

Penelope- the Odyssey

          This week I have decided to write about the role Odysseus’ wife Penelope plays, in the the book the Odyssey. For the first 5 books she isn't introduced a whole lot, but is still extremely significant as she is some of the motivation behind Odysseus’ return. The premise of the first 5 books are about how Odysseus is being held captive by a goddess called Calypso, and Athena and some of the other gods are trying to help him return home, Poseidon, however is still enraged by Odysseus killing his favorite cyclops and thinks he should pay a price. Meanwhile, Penelope, is back home at Odysseus’ estate where the suitors are trying to persuade Penelope that Odysseus is dead and that she should remarry one of them. Penelope doesn't want to believe them and she still has some fate that her beloved husband is alive somewhere (which he is). One of the suitors, is always aggressively encouraging her to select a new husband and she claims that she will do so once she completes her weaving project for her father in law, however every night she is undoing her work she has done during the day, therefore making no progress. So far it has been a struggle for her with Odysseus missing, but that has pretty much been her contribution to the plot for the first 5 books.
Thank you for reading my blog this week, and what do you think the outcome of Penelope's situation will be as we continue reading?

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12 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 17, 2016 at 10:57 AM

    noice blog post Francesco, I liked how you talked about all of her struggles with Odysseus gone. To answer your question, I think that the outcome of Penelope's situation will be that she will probably have to remarry to keep the suitors away from her until Odysseus comes back, but she will probably still face hardships and grief, because her son will also leave her. Nice post.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 17, 2016 at 3:52 PM

    Good post Francesco! I also thought that it looks like she is not one of the main characters, but still has a lot of relevance in the story. Addressing the question: I have to disagree with Dua'a, I don't think she will end up marrying any of the suitors. I do think she will face a lot of hardships, but I'd like to believe that she will come up with a plan. And also, asking the question was a very good idea!!

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  3. AndrewNovember 17, 2016 at 5:36 PM

    Nice post. I'm in agreement with Angela. I think Penelope is clever and will come up with a plan to avoid the marriage. Although, Dua'a also does have a good point regarding a marriage to keep the suitors away until Odysseus returns. 13

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  4. Maria ZorrillaNovember 17, 2016 at 6:15 PM

    I agree with Angela, and I'm hoping for the best that she doesn't marry a suitor because they are disgracing and treat her like she's her property. I would just like to point out how angry I got while reading this book, like honestly who do these suitors think they are???? threatening Telemachus with destroying their house unless her mother marries one of them!!!!!!???? this is exactly whats wrong with the world!!!!! AH I hate men.

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  5. Xander BergeronNovember 17, 2016 at 6:58 PM

    Good job Franchesco. This post goes well in depths on the story. I agree with most of what Maria is saying. I believe that you should have a choice on who you love but in this time it would be acceptable in the community only a few would stand up what they thought was right.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 17, 2016 at 8:04 PM

    I really hope the Penelope can keep being witty and outsmart the suitors, she deserves better!

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  7. Zoey WeinsteinNovember 17, 2016 at 8:18 PM

    I agree with Angela! I hope she gets out if the Marrige. I think that Penelope is a great character and the post enhance that.

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  8. AnonymousNovember 17, 2016 at 9:52 PM

    I agree with Maria and Angela. It's disturbing the way the suitors treat Odysseus's family. It seems to me there was a lot of sexual inequality at this time, which plays a role in the whole you should marry me soon deal. You can also see this even between the gods. For example: when Hermes tells Calypso that Zeus says she must let Odysseus return home, and she says that it's not fair that male gods can fall in love with whomever they want but female gods can't.

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  9. Elias HanNovember 18, 2016 at 6:37 AM

    I also agree with Franz about sexual inequality because the book mentions that Penelope had no way of forcing them to leave.

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  10. AnonymousNovember 18, 2016 at 6:43 AM

    Really well done post, I also thought it was a good idea to add your question at the end. I agree with many people in the comments that she will not marry one of the suitors and stay loyal to Odysseus.

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  11. Connor MorleyNovember 18, 2016 at 10:14 AM

    Nicely put, Francesco! I believe that it is likely that Penelope will play a much bigger role later on in the poem, and I think that as the suitors become ever the more violent and persistent, she will have to defend herself without Odysseus' help.

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  12. HunterNovember 18, 2016 at 9:59 PM

    I definitely agree here that though Penelope doesn't seem to be the main character, she's still very important.

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